Spawns of the Devil
by StrugBlack
Summary: Wherein the Straw Hats bit more than they can chew and their resident Monster Trio are given the chance to prevent such events from happening.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

"Damn it!" was the first sound to be heard after the long, tense silence engulfing the island, thunder resounding in the distance and clouds darkening as if sensing this particular island's atmosphere and wanting to compensate by matching the current inhabitants' moods; a total of three.

One of these three, one with raven hair ad the one who broke the silence, had jumped off of the only ship left relatively unscathed, his rubber limbs stretching into a far distance before coming down on the island's terrain with such force that it remotely sounded like a cannon and had left a large crater on the ground that a mere teenager shouldn't have had the strength to be able to do. He ran off further, smoke and loud boom of objects being smashed being heard in his wake, unintelligible screams of frustration, sorrow, and raw anger echoing throughout the whole island.

Back in the ship, a green-haired man sat on the railing, his one working eye closed and his expression calm as he listened to the distant shouts of the one who just ran off, and the soft, incomprehensible murmurs the one next to him said. He was the perfect picture of composure, seemingly unaffected by the horrid and traumatizing situation they had all just been in and looked asleep if nothing else. However, if one would look closer, one would find the man's set jaw and his tight grip on his beloved white, blood-stained sword as if stopping it on following the rampaging boy's trail that the man himself desperately wanted to do so.

The blond next to the swordsman, though, neither wanted to go on a rampage nor was he determined to show indifference in the situation. He, as shown through the tears that fell on his otherwise hollow face and the way his equally hollow eyes watched the occasional flicker of light his lighter produced as he flicked it on, was truly overwhelmed by grief and sorrow, so much that he, apparently, could not express it right.

Perfectly aligned on the deck behind the green-haired man and the blond and fixed in what they hoped were comfortable positions even as the states the objects of their grief were in weren't all that much comfortable anyways;

The first to be laid on the deck was their sniper, with the raven-haired boy having had found him near the ship, obviously having been trying to protect it until what appeared to be a laser shot the long-nosed man right in the forehead and all over his body, holes dotting the man's figure being the evidence of the events which transpired. The man who wanted to be the bravest warrior of the sea was barely recognized under the thick, red stain of blood covering him. And if it wasn't for his unmistakable curly hair, long nose, and the man's weapon lying limply on the man's impossibly mutilated hand, the raven-haired boy would've passed the man without knowing that the bloody man was one of his friends and a member of his family.

Three bodies were laid by the blond and the green-haired man right after; the blond having had found the unmistakable bones their resident skeleton was made of under the familiar suit the fellow perverted gentleman always wore, his afro and his sword lying several feet away; the green-haired man had found their resident archeologist and doctor at the same time, the two having had been lying next to each other, with the archeologist's arms protectively wrapped around the reindeer, which did nothing on the onslaught of both ice and lava they both had obviously suffered through. Similar to the sniper, the three were almost unrecognizable as well, only being recognized through the skeleton's outfit and hair, as previously said, the archeologist's dark raven hair, and the doctor's unique traits of being a human-reindeer.

Their navigator was laid next by the raven-haired boy; her bright orange hair haphazardly splayed all over the grass and her body badly burnt, smelling suspiciously like lightning. She had been found in a large crater in the middle of the island's thick forest, neither trees nor plants having been found in approximately an 80-meter radius of her.

The one to complete the three's list of fallen friends was their shipwright, of whom they had all found in a cave hidden underground, body undeniably mutilated and wrecked, with the weapons, gears, and tools he had found all over the place, the metals looking oddly rusted and had crumbled once the raven-haired boy tried to return it to their ship.

The island had silenced once again, and upon noticing, the green-haired man and the blond man mindlessly hopped onto the edge of the crater their reckless captain had done and headed towards the direction they had last heard the raven-haired boy's tirade. They had expected to find the boy a few kilometers off, probably on the other half of the island, but upon catching the boy's unmistakable straw hat from their peripheral vision as they entered the forest, that is to say, they were shocked to find the boy asleep, said hat on his lap with a letter apparently addressed to the three of them.

Upon waking the raven-haired boy up, which took less effort than usual, the green-haired man gave the letter to him, walking over as the boy gave them a nod of confirmation to read it with him.

_Monkey D. Luffy, Pirate Hunter Zoro, Blackleg Sanji,_

_It is with my utmost regret that your friends had died such tragic deaths, said tragic deaths all caused by me. I have contemplated on telling this in person, however, I do believe that after what you three have just experienced, you would not hear my words and would be hell-bent on killing me, which, I advise, you should not do, for you are still too weak to challenge me, let alone continue further._

_I am not, however, sending you this letter to goad about my prowess, for, you see, you and your crew show much more promise than all those I have seen. I am to give you a chance, and in this extra time that I give you, I advise that you and those others become strong. _

_I will not be taking you as far back as to your childhood for I will only bring you back as to when I had first noticed you and your crew, which, I hope, is enough time for all of you to be able to take on my challenge. _

_Become strong, Straw Hat Pirates! Work hard and Good Luck! _

_(And try not to bump into each other too hard.)_

The Straw Hat Pirate Crew had consisted of 9 misfits; a rubber captain, a swordsman first mate, a greedy navigator, a lying sniper, a feminist cook, a reindeer doctor, a mysterious archaeologist, a perverted shipwright, and a corny musician and only 3 out of those 9 misfits remain, namely; Captain Monkey D. Luffy, First Mate Roronoa Zoro, and Cook Blackleg Sanji. And not one of them had objections on taking the world once again by a storm.

* * *

**A/N:** Updates wouldn't be regular for I only wrote this for fun and schedules are things I often neglect. Pairings won't suit the story so I won't be putting those, unless it is what should actually happen (although if ever I find a certain event love story-material, I'll make a separate story). If you find anything wrong in the chapter, though, please don't hesitate to tell me.


	2. And Begin!

**Chapter 1**

**And Begin!**

It was with a happy cheer that the barrel of sake stationed in the middle of the main deck of the caravel of the East Blue-renowned pirate crew was smashed by the heels of the current five members of said crew, wide grins evident on their faces at their proclamations of their dreams and the fact that they were about to enter the Grand Line. It filled them with great hopes of achieving their purpose and had done the ceremony as soon as they were free from sight of the Town of the Beginning and End, Logue Town, despite the heavy storm they were sailing in.

It was only when three of the members of the crew collided with each other that they realized that ignoring their sniper's half-hearted warnings about performing such ceremonies in the middle of the storm wasn't such a good idea. But then, they had labeled said three as idiotic despite their horrific strengths, so maybe it just didn't get into their retarded heads to balance themselves after performing such actions.

"Idiots," the navigator muttered, watching as two of said idiots started an argument that quickly veered off of the reason of their fight, with the remaining idiot that was their captain watching on, laughing and clapping in encouragement. "What idiots," she added for emphasis, the sniper of the crew nodding in agreement.

Shaking her orange-haired head, the navigator approached the group of three, her ominous shadow looming over them and yet going unnoticed. When two, the cook and the swordsman, of the idiots stood up and readied their fighting stances and the captain shouted more cheers of encouragement, a vein popped just below the navigator's right eye, raining the three with fists that left them sprawled on the floor sporting large bumps on where they were hit. "Just get inside already so we can talk about what we're going to do next!" she stated, heading to her room to get a coat.

The sniper, after nursing himself back to consciousness on the fist that came down on him as well due to purely illogical reasons, crouched down and tilted his head in level of the captain's to follow the orders given, only to furrow his eyebrows in confusion at the look he was receiving. "Lu-Luffy…?" he called, poking on the other's cheek. It was, after all, unnerving to be stared at with seemingly hollow eyes, especially by his captain, given that it wasn't of his character. "H-hey…Luffy…! Are you okay…?"

It was only when the sniper made a move to stand and move on to the other laid two that Luffy responded, muttering the sniper's name as if testing its pronunciation correctly. "Usopp," he mumbled, the whisper falling on deaf ears due to its uncharacteristically low volume and the storm that still plagued them.

As realization hit him though, Luffy snapped back to his usual self, tackling the startled sniper to the ground as he grinned from ear to ear, eyes sparkling in delight as he examined the other's face; curly hair, slightly dark skin, the long nose; even if he did seem slightly different from what Luffy was used to, there was no mistaking it. The one he had pinned on the deck was the Straw Hat's one and only sniper, "USOPP!" Luffy cheered in glee.

The cheer snapped the cook out of his daze, sitting up as he watched with wide eyes at the unmistakable scene of his captain choking a breathing, and very much alive Usopp, the falling of the unlit cigarette he held between his lips going unnoticed. The sight almost brought him to tears, but then he heard the almost inaudible taps of heels as it hit the deck. He turned around to find the unmistakable figure of his Mellorine who arrived with a coat wrapped around herself. He made no move in resisting the continuous flow of tears that gushed down his cheeks, continuous cries of "I'm glad you're fine, Nami-swan!" being added to the noise Luffy had been making, who also noticed the arrival of their navigator, and had tackled her as well, now choking the sniper and the navigator both, much to the cook's anger.

"W-what?" Nami managed to force out. "L-luffy, let me go…! We still need to en-enter…Damn it, Luffy!" And once again, Luffy was sprawled on the floor, nursing a fairly large bump that always came with the girl's fist. "What the hell's gotten into you? And be quiet Sanji-kun!" She yelled, pointing at the cook who was berating Luffy for attacking the navigator. "Just get inside already!"

They watched as Nami huffed, heading for the sheep figurehead that Luffy and Sanji fondly recalled as the Going Merry's, the perfectly fine state their comrade of a ship was in not striking as odd towards the former of the two as he launched himself towards his favorite seat, sitting on it with ease and ignorant to its slippery surface and the howling winds that threatened to topple him over to the ocean's roaring waves.

Meanwhile, the figurehead was what brought Sanji back to his intellectual self, his senses taking in everything at once; the hindered vision of his left eye instead of his right; his Nami-swan looking less developed but still as breath-taking and beautiful as before, of course; Usopp having a much lanky physique than what he remembered; his other angel's, their doctor's, shipwright's, and musician's absence. _Just what…?_

"Hey." Sanji took a glance at their swordsman who, now that he thought about it, hadn't said anything for a while now. "You don't think…?"

In reply, Sanji stared at him, shrugging as he remembered the bits of information that came back to him. _Not taking us as far back as to our childhood, huh._ He cursed afterwards as the realization of his current inability to smoke under the harsh conditions of Mother Nature hit him. "Maybe," he muttered as he walked past the swordsman towards the galley of which the door was left open after their sniper's retreat from both the storm and their navigator's anger leaving the swordsman no choice but to follow him given that their captain was currently unavailable, happily swinging back and forth on their ship's figurehead without a care for the previously said dangers it posed for his well-being.

Usopp was already comfortably sitting on one of the dining chairs by the time the two arrived, the newly arrived pair's eyes now clear and aware as they took in the long-nosed man's features. It unnerved the sniper to be under such intense gazes but nevertheless remained quiet once he caught sight of the distant gaze the two had after several seconds; the similarity to his captain's earlier reaction at the sight of him oddly disturbing him.

The galley was silent, in contrast to the storm they had found themselves in, and if it weren't for the cook's question of "What happened?" it would've stayed the same.

Usopp then blinked in surprise, his brows rising once he saw their swordsman looking at him for an answer to the question as well. To be out of it after becoming the receiving end of their navigator's punches was common, sure, but the sniper had never thought that it could become the cause of memory loss.

As the sniper's mischief returned, he silently thought of ways on how to tell the two of his awesome feats and how it was all related to what happened on the past events they supposedly forgot. The tell-tale smirk their sniper had was strangely comforting to the two but otherwise triggered their self-honed lying filters, as they had been sailing with the sniper for a long time now and knew that whatever they were going to be told was nothing short of a story altered for the benefit of the long-nosed man's reputation.

"I—"

Luffy came barging in through the door, interrupting the sniper's dramatic opening with wide eyes and hanging jaw, Nami following behind him with confusion as she desperately tried to get the captain's attention. Luffy looked nothing short of horrified as his eyes darted from one surface to another, spinning around as he took his surroundings in and then stopping as he darted his gaze from their navigator to their sniper repeatedly, occasionally glancing at the cook and the swordsman with equal shock, as if noticing their appearances for the first time, which, sadly, might've been the case.

"Hey, Luffy, what's the matter?!" Nami once again asked.

Finally, Luffy snapped, shouting an ear-splitting shout that only a rubber man such as himself would have been able to do without consequences, leaving the other occupants of the room's ears ringing. "Where are the others?! What happened to Sunny?! Why are we going to enter Grand Line again?! Zoro, Sanji, what the hell happened?!" he simultaneously asked, running around hysterically, peeking through the portholes once in a while until his antics were once again stopped by their navigator's fist, sending him sprawled on the floor that was currently soaked because of their dripping states.

Usopp was then reminded of the supposed memory loss of two-now-three members of their crew, calling Nami's name as he panicked. "He might not remember us at this rate, you know!" he warned. "Zoro and Sanji can't even remember what happened in Logue Town!"

At the mention of the last island before they entered the Grand Line, said three memory-less crew members recoiled, disbelief written across their faces at the idea that the last statement of the sniper brought up. "Why the hell do you keep staring at me?" asked their sniper as he once again found himself as the center of the three's attention.

Luffy, about to answer, was silenced by a leather-clad foot, the covered appendage keeping his mouth incapable of voicing coherent words and his head pressed against the floor. With his foot firmly in place, Sanji lit himself a cigarette, locking eyes with Usopp as he inhaled. "What exactly happened?" he repeated.

"Uh…"

"Wait!" Nami interrupted. "You mean you really don't remember?! I didn't hit _that _hard…I think. Did I? No, definitely not. I have nothing to do with this, got it?!"

As the conversation veered off of the initial topic and turned into useless banter, the oceans the pirate crew sailed in gradually calmed as they moved south, unknowingly entering the monster-infested waters that was the Calm Belt. It brought panic to the two members that were inexperienced with such unexpected situations, their fear being made known as Usopp frantically ran around and Nami shouted orders that weren't as clear as they should've been. The situation reminded the silent trio that were Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji of the time when this had first happened; them panicking in their own way at their navigator's fear; it didn't take much for them to put the pieces together.

"No way," Sanji breathed as a sea king he distantly acknowledged he had seen before broke through the surface, the waters they were in rocking as a chain reaction was incited and several different kinds of sea creatures popped up, one of the creatures appearing directly below them and lifting them with ease right in the middle of its eyes, leaving the crew in the air for a moment before painfully crashing down as gravity did its job.

They were snapped out of the aftershock at the distant cries of their sniper that they managed to overhear through the large bellows of the massive sea creatures, the long-nosed boy apparently having been thrown off of the deck and almost being plunged into the dangerous waters that was currently swimming with sea kings. It brought the sniper's crew members into another wave of panic, although this time, their reactions were immediate. And in the blink of an eye, the sniper was no longer flying in mid-air and was back on deck, groaning as his chest throbbed in numb pain at the kick he received that came before the stretched limb that pulled him back in the general direction of their ship which eventually lost its grip on his nose and sent him hurtling towards a certain swordsman who caught him with ease and then ungracefully dropped him on the ship's wooden surface. It was all a blur that even the only true witness that was their navigator had a hard time comprehending on the series of events that just took place even as she had intently observed the happenings from the sidelines.

"Wha—Whe—How…" Nami stuttered, her mind reeling at the sight she thought she saw of their cook floating in mid-air by kicking said air, the speed of their captain's arm that she wouldn't have even noticed if it wasn't for the familiar snap of his skin as it went back into place, and the sheer strength their swordsman had at not crashing to the floor along with their sniper because she knew how fast the sniper had been sent flying and it horrified her that not only did he not fall but also hadn't budged an inch at the impact. "What the hell?!" was her only coherent thought.

On the other hand, the others were preoccupied with matters that should've been their first priority in the situation they were in, running around the deck with actual purpose as they took the oars out and prepared for the impact that would come after Luffy bounced the ship away from the sea king's head and back to the rocking ocean surface. Even Usopp had gathered himself up and saved his groaning and complaining about the harsh treatment done on him previously to be done at a later date, wanting nothing more than to escape this situation that could endanger not only the ship his friend had given them, but also their lives, of which he would inevitably find himself experiencing more often on future events.

"…BAZOOKA!" was the only warning they were given before they found themselves hurtling down with neck-breaking speed, horrified screams mingling with the sea kings' roars with the instigator of their falling state laughing at their dilemma and the familiar situation as he hopped down from his perch on the ship's figurehead and held one end of an oar to help paddle. "This is fun!" he exclaimed.

"Fun my foot! Merry is not the Sunny, you shitty rubber!" berated Sanji from beside Luffy.

The impact that came was enough for both Sanji and Zoro to worry if they would have to find a ship sooner than anticipated, going by their guesses of where—or when—they currently were. Contemplation was not an option in their situation though, and as soon as they had gathered themselves, they let survival instincts take over and they sped out of the seemingly peaceful waters and into the howling storm they had been in, oblivious to the precautionary measures their captain had done by taming the sea kings before their landing.

They were back in the storm within moments; the sea kings' figures merely a dot in the horizon as they mindlessly distanced themselves from the calm currents of the Calm Belt, the storm increasing its ferocity as they steered themselves back to their initial destination.

Luffy blinked in wonder as he watched Nami apprehensively check their location, Usopp slump on the floor with obvious relief, Zoro cautiously examine their surroundings, and Sanji head towards the galley to brew warm beverages. Now that he was sober and the self-induced adrenaline he had moments ago had vanished, he realized that seeing this sort of scene once again was something he had once accepted not being able to see again. It brought tears to his eyes and another face-splitting grin on his mouth.

"We can go inside now!"

"Your warm chocolate is ready, my fair angel!" Sanji's swooning voice was heard from the galley's open doorway, the voice's tone turning a one-eighty as it was directed at the rest of the crew, "And I made some for the lot of you too."

Nami and Usopp headed inside, their faces lighting up as the drinks' scent filled their nostrils. They thanked the maker in unison and let themselves relax as they took a sip, ignoring the cook as he silently closed the galley door and headed to where the captain and swordsman were stationed on the deck, the storm still with them.

"I'm gonna beat up whoever it is that made us do this," Luffy stated matter-of-factly, his eyes showing no hesitation.

"Sure, but include me too. Doing that just because we were _weak_…that shitty…" Sanji mumbled, the glint in his eyes the only hint of his anger at his otherwise calm expression. "But we also need to be complete again, got that? No going to other islands if that will make us bypass the others."

"We're also going to need to be stronger. Because as angry as I am to whomever this person is, to be able to defeat the others that weren't really that weak is no easy feat even if the person had a hundred fleets," added Zoro as he clenched his fist at the memory.

"Our nakama will survive this time."

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**A/N: **Is that how I was supposed to end it? Also, should I just use 'nakama' or should I just use 'friend'? Because the Strawhats have lots of friends and they are comrades, sure, but they're more than that, I think.


End file.
